ISSP is a continuous programme of cross-national collaboration on social science surveys. It is based on annual, internationally integrated surveys carried out in all participating countries. A self-financed consortium of various research institutions is in charge of the programme. The ISSP data collection started in 1985, and in Finland in 2000, along with the national membership.
The GESIS in Germany is responsible for archiving the ISSP data. Country-specific codebooks and questionnaires can be found on the GESIS ISSP web pages. ZACAT, the data portal of the GESIS, offers information on ISSP surveys, with online retrieval, analysis and download. Their Data Catalogue DBK allows retrieval and download of data and questionnaires. Both services are free of charge but downloading requires registration. The ZACAT registration is valid for DBK and vice versa.
In Finland, ISSP surveys are carried out in collaboration by three institutions: Finnish Social Science Data Archive, Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Tampere, and the Interview and Survey Services of Statistics Finland.
The survey charted Finnish views on nature and the environment, environmental problems, pollution, environmental conservation, what people would be willing to do for the environment and what were important issues for society in general.
The respondents were asked what issues they considered important in Finland (e.g. health care, education, the economy, the environment) and what were the most important things the country should do (maintain order, give people more say in government decisions, fight rising prices, protect freedom of speech). They were also asked to what extent they agreed with statements relating to how to solve income inequality and Finland's economic problems. Interpersonal trust and trust in government and politicians were also surveyed.
Next questions focused on the environment. Views were probed on the most important environmental problems in Finland, the causes of and solutions to such problems, and the role of science and scientific solutions. Some questions pertained to the correlation between economic growth or population growth and the environment. Willingness to protect the environment through higher prices, higher taxes or cuts in the standard of living was surveyed. A number of statements charted the respondents' attitudes to environmental protection. Opinions were also probed on how dangerous for the environment certain things (e.g. air pollution, pesticides and chemicals in farming, water pollution, climate change, modifying the genes of crops) were, who should decide how to protect the environment, what were best ways to protect it, and what energy sources should be prioritised. The respondents were asked what measures they were taking to protect the environment. The measures mentioned included recycling, buying fruit or vegetables grown without pesticides or chemicals, cutting back on driving, saving or re-using water etc. Finally, the respondents were presented with two statements relating to the causes of climate change.
Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, years of full-time education, type of employer, legal marital/partnership status, trade union membership, religious affiliation, religious attendance, self-perceived social group, party affiliation, voting, household composition, R's and household income, and R's and spouse's/partner's employment relationship, working hours, occupational status, occupation and economic activity.
Classification order: municipality code and date of birth.
Sample size was 2,500 person of whom 95% were Finnish-speaking and 5% Swedish-speaking. Altogether, there were 1,211 respondents. Non-response: 1,289 persons of whom 12 refused, 17 were non-contacts or had a language problem etc, and 1,260 were non-respondents.